Alston & Bird

Alston & Bird

Alston & Bird LLP, commonly abbreviated (A&B), is the second largest law firm in Atlanta and the forty-third largest in the United States.

History

Founded in 1893, the firm has local offices in Atlanta; Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina; New York City; Washington, DC, Dallas, Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, and Ventura County. Through the roots of the Alston, Miller & Gaines’ predecessor firms, the merger with Jones, Bird and Howell formed Alston & Bird on December 1, 1982. Expansion beyond Georgia began with the establishment of an office in Washington, DC, followed by the 1997 merger with intellectual property-focus Bell Seltzer Park & Gibson (Charlotte and Raleigh, NC), Walter, Conston, Alexander & Green in 2001 (New York, NY), and Crews, Shepherd & McCarty LLP in 2007 (Dallas, TX). In August 2008, the firm opened a Silicon Valley office with attorneys from the national firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. The next month, Alston & Bird acquired the 100-lawyer strong Weston Benshoof Rochefort Rubalcava and MacCuish LLP, launching in Los Angeles and Ventura County to reach 9 offices nationwide. Legal publications report that the Atlanta-based firm is seeking to launch its first overseas offices in London and Germany. Legacy firm Walter Conston operated a Munich liaison office before it was acquired by Alston & Bird.
Today, the firm headquartered in midtown Atlanta on West Peachtree Street, in One Atlantic CenterandAtlantic Center Plaza, has more than 900 attorneys providing a full range of services to domestic and international clients conducting business all over the world. While the second largest Atlanta firm in overall size, it has the greatest number of local attorneys serving a global practice.

The former managing partner, Ben F. Johnson III, was named on Atlanta Business Chronicles list of the 100 Most Influential people in Atlanta. (published June 28, 2007). In addition, he serves on the board of trustees for several notable Atlanta institutions, including the Carter Center and Emory University.

Ranks

Alston & Bird consistently ranks on FORTUNE's list of the 100 best companies to work for, placing #19 in 2007.

A&B was ranked in the top 10 mentions for firms representing Fortune 250 companies in a Corporate Counsel survey published in 2006.

Facts

Richard Hays, the firm's Managing Partner is the brother of the current Chairman of King & Spalding (Robert Hays).

Alston & Bird was the first major law firm in Atlanta to promote an African-American female to Partner in 1990. (Karol Mason).

Advised longstanding client IndyMac, its executives and directors the FBI investigation into the California bank's collapse in 2008. Alston also advised the bank on the transfer of its assets to government control under the auspices of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.